Here are a couple samples of my work, though they are not full sized here, the site would not permit that. Both are much more detailed than shown here, especially the Yrrgsburg. I did individual rooftops and things like that. I have included a detail of both.

Here is a map that i did for a member right here on the guild website, Bill4747. If any of you guys have requests, hand them over, i gave him a fair price and i would more than do the same for you guys.

This is a big map i did for Troll Lord Games, for Gary Gygax (the founder of DnD) actually. I still haven't been paid yet though....
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/Stormcrow135/The-revised-Yrrgsburg-Final-1.jpg

I'm getting an error seeing the pictures....it's the little red cross of death!

Ravs

helium3

11-15-2007, 01:35 PM

What's your general routine for making those maps? What software do you use? They look very nice.

töff

11-15-2007, 01:51 PM

Wowsers. Wet dream maps.

TheRedEpic

11-15-2007, 01:57 PM

I was updating the post as the maps weren't looking right. Everything should be ok now.

As for software, i use pencils and photoshop:) and a couple home made photoshop brushes.

~Jared

ravells

11-15-2007, 02:02 PM

Seriously Beautiful! Thanks for sharing, Jared!

thebax2k

11-15-2007, 03:24 PM

Wow Jared, I'm seriously impressed, your maps look great and these two (especially Yrrgsburg) are incredible. Thanks again for joining the Guild.

GlennZilla

11-15-2007, 04:19 PM

Yanno, maps like yours are why I keep at this. I know there's a way to make them fantastic, because your work always is.

I'm curious about the amount of time you spend on these maps. If you don't mind sharing.

TheRedEpic

11-15-2007, 06:45 PM

Glenzilla: the maps often vary in time spent on them. The top one took me prolly around 10-12hours, whilst the bottom one prolly took me around 70-80 hours!. It depends on detail and size really.

~jared

pyrandon

11-15-2007, 07:41 PM

Wow! 'nuff said.

Qin

11-15-2007, 09:10 PM

Your city's are wonderful, do you think you could write me a tutorial for your city making?

Naryt

11-16-2007, 10:27 AM

Good heavens, I'm speachless! Absolutely gorgeous and the detail and yet the size and the wow!

pyrandon

11-17-2007, 12:48 AM

I must admit I don't like the city--far too busy and lacking unity for my tastes, but it's impossible not to marvel at the sheer time and effort that it must have taken. I think I, Mr. Impatience, would jab both my eyes out with the eraser-end of my Wacom pen if I tried to get that complex! Your regional maps, however, are a dream!

Anna

11-17-2007, 05:11 AM

Wow

That is in my opinion one of the best looking maps in the field!
And not only good technique, but truly artistic like a good painting.

Anna

töff

11-17-2007, 10:58 AM

I gotta say, that's better than anything I have ever done, and probably ever will do. CHEERS!

Bill4747

11-19-2007, 03:24 PM

I am quite the satisfied customer, let me tell you! Jared's map looks fantastic and is exactly what I wanted. Now I just have to trick him into spending 80 hours per city to draw every town on my map like his amazing yrrgsburg map! :) Seriously though, Great work

TheRedEpic

11-19-2007, 06:54 PM

Thanks everyone for your comments, they are really appreciated.

As for the tutorial, it is much the same as my other tutorial on my continental maps, just with more pencils and maybe even some duplication. I am trying to incorporate some more textures into my maps as well, making it a bit easier to crank them out.

Pyrandon, I almost poked my eyes out, especially because the map had some serious art direction on it as well, which means changing editing, all kinds of stuff.

Bill, you have the dough, i'm ready to go:)

RPMiller

11-25-2007, 12:27 AM

I'm a bit late to the party, been busy, but I wanted to say that I really like these as well, and they remind me of the Exalted maps from White Wolf. Very professional and beautiful.

The Cartographist

11-25-2007, 09:19 PM

Your maps are fantastic. Hands-down, bar none, some of the best that I have ever seen. In fact, they were the reason that I actually signed up to this site--to compliment you on your work.

Obviously, when you are putting in multiple tens of hours per, it is a labor of love. Do you create maps professionally full time? You may have an interested customer on your hands.

TheRedEpic

11-25-2007, 09:47 PM

wow,

Thanks for all the praise guys, you blew me away!

I do actually do cartography for a living, as well as other illustration, though cartography is my Meat and potatoes. Illustration work is still not enough to get pay all of my rent every month, but its building.

Hopefully by this time next year i will be able to claim that all i do is illustration, but as of right now, i am a freelance merchandiser for Lee Joffa and Kravet, which is a hugmongous textile design company. Basically i am flown to their showrooms in major cities around America and i help them setup shop. Its good money for about 50 hours of work in a single week a month, and it fits right into my freelance illustration.

As for all of you guys, as i said above, if you have cartography work you want done, hit me up and i'll give you a good quote. Bill4747 got a map from me and he was quite satisfied (he said so himself :)

~Jared

p.s- PM me for commission work

Baziron

12-04-2007, 05:45 PM

As somebody else likes to put it:

Made of win and awesome. And a lobby shootout...

I usually get discouraged from drawing when remembering that I never drew anything really the way I had imagined it. But seeing this makes my fingers itch - though it's probably not so good to get inspired by something so awesome, because I can't draw that way, but want to...

Midgardsormr

12-04-2007, 08:38 PM

The only way to get better is to practice! I've heard it said that everyone's got about 500 crummy drawings in them, and the trick is to get those all out of the way first so you can start making the good stuff. I think I'm through about 200 so far...

TheRedEpic

02-25-2008, 01:20 PM

Here is an update for maps that make up a lrger map i had done earlier for Bill4747... Each is a detailed map on it own.

These detail maps are amazing as always. I have serious art envy when I look at your maps, and these keep that fine tradition of coveting going strong...

I definitely wish I had your sense of color coordination. You do such a wonderful job in both aligning and contrasting colors, not to mention darks & lights. And something else I plan to borrow from you (and a couple other sources) is the use of fall and winter foliage/colors in forest maps; most maps use green forests for maps.